Jérôme BOOMBHI^1,2, Karl NJUWA¹, Bâ HAMADOU^1,3, Liliane MFEUKEU KUATE^1,3, Chris Nadège NGANOU^1,3, Alain MENANGA^1,2, Samuel KINGUE^1,2

Author affiliations:

1. Faculty of Medicine and Biomédical Sciences, The University of Yaounde I,
2. Yaounde General Hospital
3. Yaounde Central Hospital

Corresponding author: Jérôme BOOMBHI, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,  Cell: (+237) 675 81 49 13

Abstract

Introduction: Palpitation is a major cause of consultation in Cardiology clinics and Emergency departments. In Cameroon, there is paucity in research done on this frequent symptom and therefore is poorly understood in our setting, consequently patients with this symptom don’t usually get optimal and satisfactory care

Objectives: To describe the clinical and electrocardiographic profile of patients presenting with palpitations at the cardiology outpatient consultations of two reference hospitals in Yaoundé

Methods: We carried out a descriptive cross-sectional study which spanned from November 2016 to May 2017 in the Yaoundé General Hospital and the Yaoundé Central Hospital.

Results: A total of 210 participants were recruited. The hospital prevalence of palpitation was 18.67% for the General Hospital and 25.90% for the Central Hospital. The mean age of the participants was 47.3 +/- 18 years. The most represented age group was the 56 and older group (32.8%). Females constituted 75% of our study population. Hypertension was found to be the most frequent predisposing factor, with 59% of the cases. The most frequent associated symptom was dyspnea (46%). 34.5% of participants had chest pain. The most observed sign on physical examination was a heart murmur (21.3%). On electrocardiography (ECG), 86.8% of the study population had a normal sinus rhythm. The most common abnormality on ECG was a left ventricular hypertrophy (12.6%). Sinus tachycardia was found to be the most frequent rhythm disturbance (12.1%) followed by sinus bradycardia (5.7%) and atrial fibrillation (4%).

Conclusion: Palpitation is a very frequent symptom in our setting. The symptom mostly associated was dyspnea. The most frequent finding on ECG was LVH, and sinus tachycardia was the most common rhythm disorder. Our results therefore suggest a need for an in-depth evaluation of patents with palpitations and also a huge knowledge gap on this subject that will need to be filled by subsequent research.

Keywords : Palpitation, Electrocardiograph, Clinical